Sauerkraut was a staple in my maternal grandmother's home. She used to make not only great Sauerkraut but also amazingly tasty and perfectly crunchy fermented cucumbers. I could eat them almost as other children eat candy.
Since the beginning of the restrictions imposed by the pandemic, I started to think about making Sauerkraut. At last! After many years of wanting but not daring. I timidly began with grated carrots (with a dash of ginger, yum) and then moved into beets and even radishes. Those were less successful, but I would blame it on the warmer-than-desired weather. The temperature was my main concern back then, and I tried not to get entangled with too many fermenting projects.
Because it was too warm for the kraut, I thought it was better not to venture. And then I moved (temporarily) to my parent's house. The weather here is nicely cool, so I can get the right temperature for making Sauerkraut. The truth is that I had been postponing it for ten months already. I had left heads of cabbage sit in the fridge for a long while. Until yesterday, when I finally decided the time had come to get my hands on the 1.5 kg of white cabbage.
I do not have any fancy equipment for fermenting vegetables. But there are plenty of books and websites that firmly state that you do not need to.
After all the slicing and chopping, the time came for a salt massage. I did not think of crushing the cabbage with a potato masher--which I could have done--but chose to squeeze it with my thoroughly cleaned hands. To give extra flavor to the kraut, I added some caraway seeds (and a couple of old juniper berries).
I will show you some pictures of the process. I need to be patient and hope that it goes smoothly.